How Many Days Until Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in Chinese culture. It falls between January 21 and February 20, depending on the lunar calendar. The celebration lasts 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival.

🧧 Chinese New Year Traditions

🐉 What Is the Story Behind Chinese New Year?

According to legend, a monster called Nian would attack villages at the start of each new year. Villagers discovered that the creature feared loud noises, fire and the color red. This is why Chinese New Year celebrations involve firecrackers, red decorations, and red envelopes (hongbao) containing money.

🐲 What Are the Chinese Zodiac Animals?

The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal to each year in a 12-year cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Your birth year animal is believed to influence your personality and fortune. Dragon years are considered especially auspicious, and birth rates in China noticeably spike during Dragon years.

🌍 How Many People Celebrate Chinese New Year?

Over 2 billion people celebrate worldwide. The Spring Festival travel rush (Chunyun) is the largest annual human migration on Earth, with about 3 billion trips made over a 40-day period as people travel home for the holiday.

🧧 What Are Red Envelopes (Hongbao)?

Red envelopes filled with money are given during Chinese New Year from married couples to unmarried younger relatives and from employers to employees. The amount should be an even number (odd numbers are associated with funerals) and should avoid the number 4, which sounds like the word for death in Mandarin. Lucky amounts include those containing 8 (the luckiest number in Chinese culture). Digital red envelopes through apps like WeChat have become enormously popular, with billions sent electronically during the holiday.

🍜 What Do People Eat During Chinese New Year?

Every dish served during Chinese New Year carries symbolic meaning. Fish (representing surplus), dumplings (shaped like ancient gold ingots, symbolizing wealth), spring rolls (gold bars), noodles (long life, so you never cut them), and tangerines (good fortune) are all traditional. The New Years Eve dinner, called the reunion dinner, is the most important meal of the year for Chinese families. Many restaurants are fully booked weeks in advance.

🧧 Chunyun Is the Largest Annual Human Migration on Earth

The Spring Festival travel rush (Chunyun) sees roughly 3 billion trips over a 40-day period as people travel home for Chinese New Year. Thats not 3 billion unique travelers, many people make multiple trips, but the total volume of journeys is staggering. Chinas rail system alone handles over 400 million passengers during Chunyun. For comparison, the entire US commercial aviation system handles about 900 million passengers per year.